6.27.2025

It's Friday -- Let's Get Out of Here

at 2:30 PM

Random Friday Morning Thoughts




Kliff Kingsbury was still living large as Texas Tech's head coach.

  • He got 60 years as part of a plea bargain, but that's basically the same as the maximum of 99 years/life.  The rule is that he must serve either 1/2 of his sentence or 30 years, "whichever is less", before becoming eligible for parole.  So there's not much difference between 60 and anything above 60. 



  • "Two bounty hunters are in custody after a man was fatally shot near downtown Dallas Thursday morning."  Bounty hunters? They still exist?


  • Excitement in Houston last night.



    • But it didn't end like you would expect: With a hug.

  • From the official White House Twitter account.

  • The playbook for any authoritarian is to attack and threaten the media in hopes of controlling how things are reported in the future.


  • Story below. Legal nerdy stuff: This happens because the law says the State must be "ready" for trial within 60 days of a person's incarceration on a felony. Normally and practically, a prosecutor simply announcing ready (even if he's not) will suffice. From there, the case may not be be tried for many months or years into the future.  But you can't claim to be ready if the defendant hasn't been indicted -- the case hasn't even been filed in court. So the practice is to indict within 60 days and then announce "ready." But the consequences for dropping the ball and not getting the indictment are that the defendant is entitled to a PR bond to get out of jail. He can still be indicted and prosecuted in the future. 

  • Collin County state rep. Jeff Leach will be challenged by "KingdomLife" pastor Brandon Burden who got national attention (and especially mine) for a crazy sermon he gave days after January 6th. 

    • Flashback:

  • The Business Second - "Say what?" Edition:  (Gift link.)


  • Microsoft is changing the color and tone of its "Blue Screen of Death" in Windows.  Honestly, I very rarely see the current version of it any longer. 

    • However, back in the day, this version seemed to be on a constant loop. And when that happened, the machine was completely frozen:

  • In about 30+ minutes, the Supreme Court will release its final opinions of this term. Included in the cases will be Texas v. Pornhub, and one on birthright citizenship (which will actually just be about the legality of nationwide injunctions by individual district judges).
  • A Wise County criminal case was affirmed by the Fort Worth Court of Appeals in an opinion released last night.  The court didn't spend a lot of time on it, but one of the issues on appeal was the judge not granting a mistrial when a member of the audience watching the trial, who was connected to the defendant, sent a Facebook friend request to a jury member during the trial. 
  • Lauren Whitener Clock: 5 years and 358 days.


at 8:30 AM

6.26.2025

Random Thursday Morning Thoughts





I don't think I've ever seen this before or since.

  • The guy worked at Howe ISD (over by Sherman) but the report says he currently lives in Rhome. (Edit: Link fixed.)

  • The defendant claims he dumped the body over a bridge near Bowie, but authorities haven't been able to find it. 

  • Ok, this is crazy. After pumping $10,000 of the $30,000 into the Bitcoin machine and while still standing at the machine, she called an assistant district attorney in Tarrant County directly -- she had met him and heard him speak two times on elder abuse. 


  • Tarrant County Christian Nationalism
    • Republican Party Chair:

    • County Judge:

  • Man, Trump is really bent out of shape on the media calling him out on the use of the word "obliteration."  This morning they trotted out Pete Hegseth and Gen. John "Razin" Caine to fight back. However, despite for speaking jointly for over 45 minutes, they didn't have any new information. But Hegseth did go on a long rant about the media like any good authoritarian does.

    • Hegseth at one point said the media shouldn't have published the leaked report but instead, "Wave an American flag. Be proud of what we accomplished." Sheesh.
    • Hegseth, when he did talk about the Iran military operation, said:  “President Trump directed the most complex and secretive military operation in history.”  The folks behind D-Day would beg to differ.
    • And they never answer a question. Even Fox News is attacked for for asking for new information.  

  • Kari Lake testified in front of a congressional hearing yesterday on behalf of the Administration. It went about like you would expect.

  • Oh, please let his be true. (Brufke is a congressional reporter for Axios.)

  • A lot about this story gets my attention. How a publicity tactic by a Houston attorney worked. The facts of the case which are pretty wild. And there's also this: "The civil lawsuit says the two women are asking for $250,000 in damages."

  • Messenger - Above the Fold

at 8:30 AM

6.25.2025

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts




A week after the mass shooting in the black church in Charleston by a shooter (Dylann Roof) who had posed often with the Confederate flag, if looked like public sentiment was going to put the flag on its death bed.  I wouldn't have predicted then that it would see a comeback over the next decade.

  • A preliminary classified U.S. report leaked from the Defense Intelligence Agency,says the American bombing of Iraq's three nuclear sites in Iran set back the country’s nuclear program by only a few months, according to both the New York Times, CNN, and now everyone else.  That is not the same as "obliterated."
    • The Trump Administration managed to somehow criticize the reporting as "fake" while at the same time saying that the leak came from a "low level loser" that shouldn't have done that.


    • Trump, this morning:

  • Wise County Rep. Andy Hopper announced his bid for re-election to the Texas House yesterday, and also released a "89th Legislative Priority Wrap-Up." 
    • Oddly, in that Wrap-Up, he didn't even so much as mention that his only bill to receive a vote in the Texas House,  HB 3154 for the creation of the Wise County Water District, went down in flames by a vote of 41 to 78. There wasn't even an explanation on how that could possibly have happened.  
    • Perhaps even odder,  a section of the Wrap-Up labeled "HD 64 Wins" highlighted other bills he authored that didn't even get enough support to get to a vote. (See below)
    • And the next paragraph was dedicated to how he helped get a "policy" adopted to stop men from using the women's restroom in the capitol building.   And that wasn't even legislation, it was just a policy change by the State Preservation Board.

  • Oh, my gosh! How long was this ring missing? Decades? And how did a diver just happen to come across it!? Well . . . 

    • . . . It was lost by a mom while swimming last Sunday in the "Sandy Beach" area of the lake. She and her husband immediately hired a diving service to try and find it in a "100-foot by 50-foot area."  It was found the next morning. 
  • That's a lot of people.
  • Remember that video from Seagoville? 


  • In the New York City mayor's race, the Democrats nominated a 33 year old socialist. That's probably not the press they need right now. 
  • I bet all of Elon's team of youngsters are gone from DOGE.  Heck, I bet DOGE itself is gone.  

  • He's guilty of a lot of things, but I'm not sure at all that he's guilty of the charge the feds went with. Closing arguments are Thursday, 

  • Verdict in 35 minutes yesterday. The punishment phase should occur today.

  • You don't see this very often: The United States sued every federal district court judge in Maryland last night. PDF.

  • Israel's attack on Gaza hasn't gone away. Killings, by bullets and famine, continue.



  • Special note to Jenny, and all her extended family, in the Wise County Attorney's office on the loss of her father, Ricky Stutt. Services are today at 11:00 a.m. at First Baptist in Decatur. 
at 8:30 AM
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